Audio 4:36
Upper House MP denies making up evidence at corruption inquiry

Ashley HallUpdated
Thu May 08 19:14:00 EST 2014

Independent Commission Against Corruption has today heard conflicting evidence about how a developer's donation of $5,000 was paid into an alleged Liberal party slush fund. Not only does Marie Ficarra's testimony contradict evidence from other witnesses, in some respects, it also conflicts with her own earlier accounts.

Transcript

MARK COLVIN: A New South Wales upper house MP, Marie Ficarra has denied making up evidence at a corruption inquiry.

The Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC) has today heard conflicting evidence about how a developer's donation of $5,000 was paid into an alleged Liberal Party slush fund.

Not only does Ms Ficarra's testimony contradict evidence from other witnesses, in some respects, it also conflicts with her own earlier accounts.

Ashley Hall has been at the inquiry, and he joins me now.

So this is all about a donation made by the developer Tony Merhi. How does he explain the donation?

ASHLEY HALL: Well Mr Merhi is a property developer and just before the state election in March, 2011, he had about a billion dollars worth of projects waiting for state government development approval. He says he met Ms Ficarra at a cafin West Pennant Hills in Sydney's Hills District in the city's north.

Mr Ficarra was, at the time, a Liberal Party Upper House member, although he she stood down from the parliamentary party pending the outcome of this inquiry.

Mr Merhi says, when he told Ms Ficarra he was concerned that an incoming Liberal government would scrape this particular development process, she advised him to get a lobbyist and she mentioned the firm Eightbyfive.

Mr Merhi says he later received a call from someone he can no longer identify who gave him bank account details for a telegraphic transfer and the $5,000 was paid.

MARK COLVIN: And what does Ms Ficarra say about that money?

ASHLEY HALL: Well indeed, Ms Ficarra says Mr Merhi arranged the meeting because he wanted to see how he could help the Liberal Party's campaign effort. Ms Ficarra says she laughingly told him he was prohibited from making donations because he was a developer.

She says, instead, she gave Mr Merhi contact details for the Young Liberal Charles Perrottet, and suggested Mr Merhi have his friends make donations in that direction.

Ms Ficarra told the inquiry she called Mr Perrottet four times that day to check the bank account details that he'd given Mr Merhi, because the name that turned up seemed strange. But in his evidence, Mr Merhi had rejected the idea he'd been given Mr Perrottet's name or details from him.

Mr Merhi says he would remember that, because he knows Mr Perrottet's brother, who is incidentally in the New South Wales Parliament as we speak.

Ms Ficarra told the inquiry she headed straight back home to the Sutherland Shire south of Sydney after that meeting, because she had to pick up her dog, a miniature schnauzer called Liesel, who'd been at the vet surgery.

But in earlier evidence to the ICAC, Mr Ficarra said she'd spent the day doorknocking in western Sydney. There was a rowdy exchange, and counsel assisting Geoffrey Watson SC accused Ms Ficarra of making up a story to match the phone records that the ICAC has assembled.

MARK COLVIN: So this dog wasn't in her pre-appearance testimony, and it suddenly appears today...

ASHLEY HALL: Suddenly appeared today. The MP insists the only thing that has changed is her sick dog, at which point the public gallery and many of the lawyers at the hearing just burst into laughter.

MARK COLVIN: Particularly because then there was some byplay about drawing blood from a miniature schnauzer.

ASHLEY HALL: It takes a long time to draw blood, to do a full blood panel on a miniature schnauzer apparently.

MARK COLVIN: Also, some more insight into the false corruption complaint against the former Sydney Water head, Kerry Schott. This goes back to the "Yay! Black ops" email, doesn't it?

ASHLEY HALL: Indeed it does. Eric Koelma is the younger brother of Tim Koelma, who set up the alleged slush fund Eightbyfive. And the inquiry had earlier heard that Tim Koelma had emailed Eric a copy of a false corruption complaint about the head of Sydney Water, Kerry Schott.

It was an effort to discredit her and stop her standing in the way of a lucrative public-private partnership proposed by Australian Water Holdings.

Today, Eric Koelma said he couldn't recall the email request or that signoff, "Yay! Black ops", which he says was probably a reference to a night time operation to install campaign posters.

He insists he didn't know that black ops refer to covert military operations until the ICAC told him. But the Commissioner Meghan Latham wouldn't buy that.

"You can't be that obtuse" she said to him. But, when Mr Koelma asked what that meant, the Commissioner responded, "You can't be that thick!"

ASHLEY HALL: No. Mr Koelma acknowledged he feels like an idiot for sending in the complaint. He says he didn't know who or what the commission was at the time, although he acknowledged, back then, he would have even made a complaint to police on behalf to police on behalf of his brother, assuming it was an important part of Tim's work.